By Simon Wright – Follow me on Twitter @Siwri88
Matchday 31 of the 2015/2016 Bundesliga season could be a defining
one at both ends of the table. FC Bayern München can mathematically wrap up
their fourth successive title, whilst only a win away to FC Ingolstadt 04 will
keep Hannover 96 alive in their unlikely fight to escape relegation.
It is also getting to the crunch in the race for UEFA
Champions League qualification. Few fans and pundits would have put Hertha BSC
in their top four at the season’s start. However, they have been up there from
the outset and could well be the surprise package from Germany in European
football next season.
Just at the wrong time though, Pal Dardai’s side have hit a
sticky patch of form and with a tricky run-in, can Hertha hold on to their
Champions League dream?
Out of the doldrums
The German capital’s major team has been in the doldrums for
far too long. Six permanent managers in the past decade and two relegations
from the Bundesliga in 2010 and 2012 have meant there hasn’t been too much to
shout about for the Hertha faithful.
Dardai came into the club in February 2015 as Head Coach to
sort out another scrappy campaign. The Hungarian, who is Hertha’s record
appearance maker, featured in 366 games during his playing days and managed to
keep the club up by the skin of their teeth last season. They finished just one
position above the relegation play-off spot.
Therefore, another season of struggle was expected but they
have surprised many with their form in 2015/2016. Despite early season away
defeats to Borussia Dortmund, VfL Wolfsburg and FC Schalke 04, the
Olympiastadion became a fortress. Just Borussia Mönchengladbach won at the
famous ground in the first half of the campaign.
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| Hertha BSC have made the Olympiastadion a fortress this season |
There was a stumble after the winter break, throwing away a
3-1 lead in Bremen and putting in laboured displays in losses to VfB Stuttgart
and Hamburger SV. However, their home form (players pictured), coupled with the inconsistency of
the teams around them kept Dardai’s side occupying the third and final
automatic Champions League qualification spot.
Recently though the tide has turned. A 5-0 mauling in Mönchengladbach,
followed by a clumsy 2-2 home draw with Hannover 96 and defeat at Hoffenheim
has pushed Die Blau-Weißen below Bayer 04 Leverkusen and down to fourth.
This weekend, they host Pep Guardiola’s Bayern, before a
potential make-or-break showdown in Leverkusen next weekend. Fellow European
challengers FSV Mainz 05 are the opposition on the final day of the season at
the Coface Arena. It is fair to say that if Hertha hang onto their spot in the
top four they have occupied since mid-October, they will have to do it the hard
way.
Learning lessons
Lessons seemed to have been learned from previous mistakes
on a financial scale. Back in 1994, the club was £10m in debt and looked to be
lost in the new Germany following reunification. The debt was only cleared through
a sponsorship deal and the sale of real estate holdings.
Within five years, Hertha had returned to the big stage and
were hosting UEFA Champions League football right at the end of the 20th
century. The might of Chelsea and AC Milan were both beaten in the first group
stage at the Olympiastadion and they also achieved a creditable draw with
Barcelona in the second phase before bowing out in March 2000 with their heads
held high.
Rather than stick to solidity, money was splashed out
following this run in an attempt to make European qualification a norm. It didn’t
work out and although there were two top-six finishes in the next five seasons,
Hertha BSC have not made the big time of the Champions League ever since.
Since relegation in 2010 to the second tier, Hertha have
been reduced to mid-table mediocrity at best whilst the likes of VfL Wolfsburg
and Bayer 04 Leverkusen have come onto the scene to become serious threats to
the Bayern München/Borussia Dortmund domination of the division.
This year seems different though and they’ve been very
prudent financially, not splashing out on extravagant wages and transfer fees
to build a very useful team under the guidance of Dardai and sporting director
Michael Preetz who was top scorer in the 1998/1999 Bundesliga season.
Key areas
Hertha BSC’s excellent form has been down to a number of key
areas. A broken collarbone in September to usual number one goalie Thomas Kraft
allowed Rune Jarstein into the role and he has kept hold of the jersey ever
since. Only Manuel Neuer has kept more clean sheets this season.
The potential of John Anthony Brooks is finally coming
through at the heart of the backline. The American international, who scored a
winning goal against Ghana at the 2014 World Cup, signed a new deal to stay
with the club in February, shaking off Schalke’s pursuit in the player during
the January transfer window.
Marvin Plattenhardt is one of the best free-kick takers in the
division and has benefited from the sale of Nico Schulz in August to become a
regular in the team, whilst Czech international Vladimir Darida has added a
creativity element to the midfield.
They also have a tremendous attacking duo in Salomon Kalou
and Vedad Ibisevic who promise goals. Kalou scored a hat-trick in November away
to Hannover 96 and has produced an excellent return of 14 goals this season.
This is a surprise as he never threatened this consistency at either Chelsea or
Lille.
After a terrible campaign at VfB Stuttgart last season where
he failed to score a single goal, Ibisevic has also tallied double figures in
his first season in the German capital. He has also brought the best out of
Kalou’s game. An experienced Bundesliga campaigner with spells with TSG 1899 Hoffenheim
and Stuttgart, Ibisevic’s arrival on-loan was a good piece of business and he
will be joining the club permanently in the summer after Hertha activated an
option that was in his loan agreement.
As they have been in the Champions League positions for the
majority of the season, Hertha Berlin probably deserve to finish in the
Bundesliga top four in this campaign but the table doesn’t lie after 34 games.
It will be an extremely tight finish to their season and the fixture computer
hasn’t been incredibly kind to Pal Dardai and his team.
If they can achieve a top-four finish, the hope is that they
will be here to stay in the elite and the Bundesliga needs a strong team from
the German capital.
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